Historical on-time performance
Sacramento to Denver
909 miData through May 2026Source: US DOT · BTS
Flights on SMF–DEN arrive on time 81% of the time over the last 12 months.
On-time rate81%arrived within 15 min
p90 delay35 min1 in 10 flights is worse (tail risk)
Cancelled0.4%of scheduled flights
based on 3,663 flights over the last 12 months. On-time means arriving within 15 minutes (BTS standard).
By airline
How each carrier compares
- United AirlinesbestOn-time87%Medianon timep9020 minCancel0.5%Flights1,802
- Southwest AirlinesOn-time76%Medianon timep9045 minCancel0.3%Flights1,861
Why flights run late
Delay causes
- Airline23%
- Weather1%
- Air traffic (NAS)36%
- Late aircraft39%
- Security0%
Most delay minutes here are attributed to Late aircraft.
When flights don't go
Why flights were cancelled
- Airline53%
- Weather20%
- Air traffic (NAS)27%
- Security0%
Most cancellations here are attributed to Airline. Shares are among 15 cancellations with a reported cause (BTS reports causes from June 2003).
Over time
On-time trend
By season
On-time rate by month
When to fly
Best time to fly SMF → DEN
All airlines · rolling 36 months (2023-06 .. 2026-05).
Best time of day
Mornings are the most reliable time of day to fly this route — 93% on time.
- Mornings93% on time · p90 5 min · 4,291 flights
- Middays82% on time · p90 30 min · 3,223 flights
- Evenings75% on time · p90 45 min · 1,618 flights
- Afternoons73% on time · p90 50 min · 2,151 flights
- Overnights67% on time · p90 60 min · 519 flights
Best day of week
On-time rates are fairly even by day on this route — ranging from 80% to 85% on time.
- Tuesdays85% on time · p90 25 min · 1,605 flights
- Wednesdays85% on time · p90 20 min · 1,666 flights
- Saturdays84% on time · p90 25 min · 1,425 flights
- Sundays83% on time · p90 30 min · 1,687 flights
- Mondays82% on time · p90 30 min · 1,816 flights
- Thursdays81% on time · p90 35 min · 1,768 flights
- Fridays80% on time · p90 35 min · 1,835 flights
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